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}} Thor reveals his plan to enlist the aid of the Dark One in securing the Gates. Cast * Durkon Thundershield (as spirit) ◀ ▶ * Minrah (as spirit) ◀ ▶ * Thor ◀ ▶ * Dark One (as illusion) ◀ ▶ Transcript The image of the Dark One glares at Durkon and Minrah. Minrah: Who is—? Durkon: Is tha—? Thor: The Dark One. The patron god of the goblins. He ascended to godhood during this word's tenure— The Dark One glares at Thor, crossing his arms. Thor: —but unlike other mortal ascensions, he did it completely on his own, without any sponsorship by one of the existing pantheons. Thor: Somehow, he tapped into an entirely new color of divine essence: purple. Thor dismisses the image of the Dark One. Thor: If the Dark One Joined us, we could close the rifts with four-color seals. Thor: They would actually be stronger than the rest of the world around them. Thor: Sure, new rifts would form again somewhere else in a few thousand years, but as long as we kept spot-welding them as they came up, there's no telling how long this world could last. Thor: Millions of years? Billions? We might even be able to try that "natural selection" thing I keep hearing about. Durkon: But...Lord Thor, tha goblins're tha ones tryin' ta seize tha Gates in tha first place! Thor: Yeah, I admit that's a bit of a sticking point. Minrah: Wait, hold up. What gates are we talking about here? Durkon: Och, it's this whole thing wit tha plot. Durkon: Sixty-odd years ago, this band o' 'dventurers built five magic Gates o'er tha rifts that'd opened up 'round tha world. Durkon: Tha Gates plug up tha rifts, but tha bad guys're tryin' ta grab one an' use it ta tame tha Snarl. Thor: No, not tame it, exactly. We think the goblins are trying to find a way to use the Gates to shift the planar aperatures[sic] to the Outer Planes. Minah: So...the Snarl could attack you out here? in your homes?? Durkon: Och, tha's awful! Thor: Yeah. And it's just one more reason the "Kill 'Em All" caucus wants to hurry up rather than wait. Thor: The thing is, even just talking to the Dark One is...difficult. He has no formal place in any of our covenants—no vote at any Godsmoot, no framework for safe communication. Thor: If I try to swing by his place to talk, the slightest disagreement could create a new two-color Snarl! Thor: And...I have to admit. Thor: Some of the Dark One's reluctance to engage with us is my fault. Minrah: Oh! Did you make fun of his name? Thor: What/ No, his name is totally metal. Minrah: ...Oh. Trivia * Minrah asking "what gates..." is perhaps a reference to the running gag where the MitD is ignorant of the gates. It also serves the purpose of allowing Durkon to give an exposition to the reader on something he and Thor are already aware of. * In the penultimate panel, Thor suggests that he is to blame for the Dark One's lack of engagement with the other pantheons. Thor and some other unspecified gods wanted to destroy the Dark One after his ascension.Start of Darkness, p. 40 Loki and Tiamat (and probably others) defended him, allowing him to solidify his place as god of the goblinoids. External Links * 1142}} View the comic * 570321}} View the discussion thread References